AUSTRALIA - Manager: Mustafa Khan

ENGLAND - Manager: Dan Thomas

DEVESTATED!!

All good things finally come to an end but England had hoped their 100% record would not be one of them. Certainly recent batting has caused some concerns with some low scoring totals. The test against Pakistan was no exception.

England though should have won the match if butterfingers Hussain had held onto a simple catch that would have dismissed Inzamam-ul-Haq and Pakistan in their 2nd innings with the score at 194. As it was, Waqar successfully defended and Inzaman hit the few remaining runs required. Inzamam was the difference between the two sides. In a test dominated by the bowlers he scored over 50% of Pakistans runs and was undefeated in both innings scoring 94* and 116*.

England are very downhearted at this defeat and really must concentrate if they are to still win the league. The defeat has also pushed them off top spot. To win the league they have to beat the Warwick Todd XI in round 15, assuming they can regain their winning ways away to lowly New Zealand this week. At least they no longer have any injuries and can name a full strength side.

INDIA - Manager: Mat Kenneally

India are playing very poorly of late and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Only Srinath and Tendulkar are in good spirits with the rest of the players seemingly despondent. Prasad will come back this week and have the weight of the world on his shoulders. Azharuddin will retain his spot but Ganguly will have specific orders NOT to open the bowling. Sidhu and Laxman are going to be under pressure to put a start on the board, while Harvinder Singh is expected to finally make an impact. Mat Kenneally said, "If things don't work out this week the changes WILL be drastic."

NEW ZEALAND - Manager: Ben Buchanan

PAKISTAN - Manager: Nathan Porter

With a stunning victory over England by just 1 wicket, Pakistan have placed their hands for the first time on the Warwick Todd Trophy, a successful defence against India may see the gap at the top of the table much closer than the two horse race it is at the moment.

The Pakistani manager Nathan Porter was seen fretting at the keyboard as he checked the progress of his side in their away fixture against England. Not being able to afford the trip to England, (Pakistani cricketers and management are forced to pay their own way), he opted to stay home and watch the fixture via the Mick Jagger broadcast over the internet. At nine wickets down it looked all over for the Paki's but a last wicket stand of 23 between Waqar Younis and Inzamam-ul-Haq saw victory home. Inzamam's final runs a smashing four over square leg. Unfortunately the batting prowess of Waqar Younis will be missed this week.

SOUTH AFRICA - Manager: Steve Hill

SRI LANKA - Manager: Keith McLeod

Round 13 of the Warwick Todd World Championships finds the Sri Lankan cricket team on a high. After three wins without shedding a second innings wicket, the team is looking rejuvenated following mid-season difficulties. The side has no injuries and is looking to finish the competition strongly against Zimbabwe this weekend. "It's payback time", says manager Keith McLeod. "We were terribly disappointed with our round 4 loss against them (the Zimbabweans) and are looking for a much improved performance."

Sri Lanka are coming off an innings and 12 run win over the West Indians. The spinners took the glory in the first innings sharing 8 wickets, but it was in the second innings that sparks truly flew. Chaminda Vaas, looking lacklustre in the first innings, produced a truly outstanding bowling performance in the second. Taking a championship records 8 wickets for 49 runs, Vaas ploughed through the West Indian batting line-up.

The bowling performance capped off a convincing batting effort, resulting in centuries to experienced batsmen Asanka Gurusinha and Aravinda de Silva, and a 91 not out from Arjuna Ranatunga confirmed a welcome return to form for the portly star.

It was a strong all-round performance from Sri Lanka, which should have the Zimbabweans somewhat concerned, if not shaking in their boots.

WEST INDIES - Manager: Joshua Johnson

Round 12 saw the West Indies convincingly beaten once again by a far superior side, this time in the form of the Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankans won the toss and elected to bat on a perfect batting pitch on a beautiful sunny day at Bridgetown. A quick wicket in the second over left the visitors at 1/4, but some steady batting and three dropped catches saw the visitors make it to lunch without further loss and a score of 1/92. In the first over after lunch Jayasuriya was beaten by a Cuffy delivery and clean bowled for 27. This brought de Silva to the crease and he went after the bowlers scoring 51 off only 54 deliveries. This continued and his batting actually accelerated, he scored 3 consecutive boundaries off Walsh and went on to make his century off only 99 deliveries! All this time he received good support from Gurusinha who also scored a century (135). De Silva was finally dismissed by Ambrose for 153 and by the end of day one the visitors were in an extremely strong position at 4/382. Some aggressive batting in the first session of day 2 saw quick runs scored, but also allowed the West Indies to make a few breakthroughs and by lunch Sri Lanka were 7/467. Ranatunga (91*) and Dharmasena continued to bat well and saw the visitors through to tea without loss. The final session saw the final 3 wickets fall for a first innings total of 578.

In the 34 overs remaining in day 2 the West Indies lost both openers and were poised at 2/99 at stumps with Lara and Adams at the crease. This partnership continued throughout the first session of day 3 and the West Indies were 2/246 at lunch. The partnership was ended at 203 runs by Zoysa who bowled Adams for 119. He was followed three overs later by Lara on 86. This was followed by a tail-end collapse with the only stand out a quick-fire 27 (33 balls) from Ambrose. The West Indies scored 370, 8 runs short of avoiding the follow-on and so had to go in and bat again.

Vaas was the destroyer in the West Indies second innings. He took 8/49 and ensured an innings defeat for the West Indies. The final 7 West Indian batsmen scored 10 runs between them! The only good performance was from Campbell who opened and batted through the innings remaining on 91 not out when the game ended. The side collapsed for a paltry 196 giving the game to the Sri Lankans by an Innings and 12 runs.

This week the lowly West Indies take on once again top placed Warwick Todd's XI. The West Indies are sporting a full strength squad for the first time in a while, but it will take some great performances from a side very low on morale. Williams returns from injury, replacing Samuels as an opener and Bishop returns to the side in the place of Hooper, to provide a 5th bowler and more attack for the side.

ZIMBABWE - Manager: Dave Hickey

After another narrow loss to England, Zimbabwe returned to the winners list with a vengeance in Round 12 and in the process ended the recent winning streak of an upbeat New Zealand team. In their previous clash back in Round 3, Zimbabwe felt that they had completely outplayed New Zealand but the Kiwis dug in to frustrate Zimbabwe with a very dull draw. This time around Zimbabwe were very keen to make amends.

Alistair Campbell got Zimbabwe away to a good start by winning the toss but eyebrows were raised when he asked the Kiwis to bat first on a very good looking Harare pitch. Mbangwa quickly supported his captain by taking the wicket of Howell and with Strang joining in, New Zealand were 3/78 by lunch. Worse was to come for the visitors as Strang claimed 5/42 to end the innings just after tea for a very ordinary 137.

Zimbabwe got away to another poor start with Rennie again going early. Rennie has not made double figures in his last eight innings. In fact, he has only made double figures three times in fifteen innings, yet he has made two centuries. Clearly he is a player who goes on once he gets a start but manager Dave Hickey's patience must surely be running out.

Goodwin joined Grant Flower and they safely guided Zimbabwe to 1/93 by stumps. The next day they steered Zimbabwe past New Zealand's score and eventually added 202 runs for the second wicket before Flower was dismissed by Cairns for 80. The middle order stumbled a little as Houghton and Andy Flower went quickly and then Goodwin eventually went for 154. Campbell (106) and Wishart (74) then stopped the rot with a 153 run partnership for the sixth wicket. A bit of lusty hitting from the tail added further runs for Zimbabwe to be very well placed when their innings ended at 499.

Trailing by 362, New Zealand's top order got away to a steady and defiant start but a devestating second spell from Heath Streak reduced the New Zealand batting to rubble. When the innings ended at 187, Zimbabwe had won by an innings and 175 runs, becoming only the second team to pick up all ten bonus points in a match.

Next week Zimbabwe travel to Colombo to take on an in-form Sri Lanka. In their previous encounter, Zimbabwe made 600 and won by an innings but since then the Zimbabwe openers have struggled whilst Chaminda Vaas has hit top form. A win here could wrap up fourth place for Zimbabwe and that should be sufficient motivation, especially with Warwick Todd's XI waiting for them in Round 14.

WARWICK TODD'S XI - Manager: Warwick Todd

The toll of a long seaosn seems to be showing on the aging Warwick Todd's XI as they struggled to a win over last-placed South Africa. With England losing to Pakistan, the Todd XI have regained the competition lead but they will need to lift a cog if they wish to stay there.

South Africa won the toss and batted and after losing Hudson on the third ball, some lacklustre bowling allowed them to put on 100 for the second wicket. Cullinan and Rhodes added 96 for the fifth wicket but in between McDermott (5/66) and Alderman (4/75) bowled good second spells as South Africa made 295. Merv Hughes paid for recent indiscretions, being only required to bowl ten overs and being asked to go from fine leg to fine leg each over.

Wood and Marsh got the Todd innings away to a good start and with support from Jones and Border, they were cruising at 3/198. However, Lance Klusener found his line and he took 6 wickets to end the innings for 280, to give South Africa a 15 run lead. Wood (105) and Border (55) were the pick of the batsmen.

South Africa batted steadily in their second knock, but they could only manage small partnerships, lacking the big partnership needed to hold the innings together. McDermott (4/58) and Alderman (4/62) again dominated as South Africa made 205 to set the Todd XI 221 to win.

Any hope of an upset was promptly knocked on the head, as Wood and Marsh put on 157 for the first wicket. Jones and Todd then added the remaining runs to record an 8 wicket victory.

Next week's match is against a struggling West Indies team in Sydney. The Todd XI will be looking to put some form on the board in this match as they prepare for the Round 15 match aginst England which may decide the series.